The phrase 'top shelf'....
 

Do americans have the same meaning for the phrase 'top shelf' as we do in the UK.

For us it can imply porn mags in a shop being on the top shelf.

What would be the US understanding of this phrase?

Ta

Around here (Canada) we normally take it to mean something of high quality or a higher standard.

"That lady's tits are really top shelf."

uh I use it to mean the booze on the top shelf, usually expensive

Nope not in the U.S.

Top shelf in the USA means this:

The best alcohol, the stuff you keep on the top shelf.
And the cheap alcohol is in the well down below, hence the bars call drinks used by mixing the cheap stuff, well drinks and the expensive stuff = Top Shelf.

Yep thats about right.

top shelf: best quality.
bottom shelf: lowest quality.

Thats what i would think, never heard about the porn magazine term... If I heard it describing anything I would think the best of.

What phrase do you guys use instead then for "top shelf" porn ?

We use it in the bars,the best booze

AFAIK, in the states you cannot buy porn from newsagents like we can, so they have no need for such a phrase.

"Behind the counter"

:thumbsup


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I remember as a kid you could walk into any mini-mart and see playboy, penthouse, hustlers and the like in the magazine rack. Then if my memory serves womens groups got all bent out of shape about kids being able to see bare tits, so they made them cover with a "modesty strip", and then finally go behind the counter, and then finally banned outright from most locations.

Thank god that put an end to porno.

I still enjoy the fact Americans find it a little crazy that wee have topless "Page 3" chicks in our national newspapers...

I remember many a morning sitting hungover on a London Transport bus, and having a guy in front of me open his copy of The Sun, and my mood instantly improving.

RK has a site with that phrase, topshelfpussy.com

That's what I thought too.... The good booze was kept on the higher shelf, harder to get to, because the bartenders didn't need it as much.

i always thought it was just a Hockey Term. Well that and the booze term